Sopa de Habas – Using Dried Fava Beans for a Hearty Mexican Soup

Rob has become largely vegetarian since we returned from our European trip…that, and he’d also like to open a “saucisson sec” import business to bring over the delicious French dry sausage we ate nearly everyday. Maybe France and Spain spoiled him for delicious meats and nothing can compare? More realistically, it’s just a healthy, good choice.

I had a pound of dried fava beans ($1 at our fantastic farmer’s market) and zero ideas what to make for dinner last week when I came across this Saveur recipe for Sopa de Habas, a Mexican fava bean soup with a tomato base. There are a lot of other recipes in Spanish calling this dish sencilla (easy), fácil (fast) and deliciosa (delicious) – perfect!

I had soaked the beans overnight – which makes popping off the shells a literal “snap” (you just pinch them between your fingers). Then brought the beans to boil to cook for 40 minutes.  While that’s going, the recipe calls for a “recado” base made with blended tomato, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.

The tomato base gets cooked down until the beans, and a few cups of their cooking water, get added to the pot. The recipe calls for cumin and saffron at this point. I also added a fresh jalapeno cut into big chunks and juice from a big lemon. The bean and tomato mixture can simmer to taste at this point.

Melted some smoked cheddar and green onions on corn torillas to go on the side and served up fresh bowls. Not quite as elegantly staged as the official Saveur photo at the top of this post. The final recipe totaled up to a meager $5 in farmer’s market ingredients and was perfectly deliciosa for four servings!